


i still hear your voice in the traffic

by corruptedteacups



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alcohol, Anticipation, Awkward Dates, Bisexual Duck Newton, Campaign: Amnesty (The Adventure Zone), Childhood Friends, Communication, Demisexuality, Duck Newton drinks respect women juice, Duck Newton is Bad at Lying, Duck Newton/Reader - Freeform, F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Grinding, Growing Up, Growing Up Together, Grunge Duck Newton, Hair-pulling, Hand Jobs, Honesty, Kissing, Love Confessions, Making Out, Marijuana, Marking, Multiple Orgasms, Naked Female Clothed Male, Neck Kissing, Non-Explicit Sex, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Oral Sex, POV Female Character, Past Relationship(s), Penis In Vagina Sex, Post-Graduation, Post-High School, Pre-Canon, Reader-Insert, Reconciliation, Recreational Drug Use, Self-Insert, Sex, TAZ Amnesty, Teen Romance, Underage Drinking, Unrequited Crush, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:34:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28860390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corruptedteacups/pseuds/corruptedteacups
Summary: No one ever said growing up was easy, life can throw a curve ball at anytime. After leaving Kepler, it felt like everything changed. Friends stopped writing, you stopped visiting, life seemed to go on. Now you're back to pick up the pieces, and you find more things than you expected, exactly where you left them.Or,I have a giant crush on Duck Newton and there's not enough horny but wholesome reader-insert for him so I'm writing it my damn self.
Relationships: Duck Newton/OC, Duck Newton/Reader
Comments: 8
Kudos: 19





	1. red light, stop sign

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Not many of these kind of fics exist for Duck, and I would really appreciate it if people would leave comments because it really does make a difference. Give this sweet local beefcake some love.

“Duck Newton get your ass in the car!”  
  
“I’m coming! Jesus….”

The annoyance in his voice spurred the harsh twist of the radio volume, the slam of the door barely audible over the roaring guitar.

“Drive! You’re a fuckin’ menace…”

“Awww, don’t tell me now that you’ve got a degree at the ripe old age of eighteen that you’re no fun anymore.”

“My sister’s never gonna shut up about this.”

“Jane will forget it eventually, s’not like you didn’t half live in this van for three years.”

“S’your fault for offering to drive in the winter.”

“You can’t put chains on a skateboard.”

Finally, a smile broke through as the music changed and the car devolved into choking laughter. This wasn’t the first time he’d hauled ass into the rickety VW van while the radio threatened to bust with the antics of the dip-dyed young adult in the driver seat. You’d been driving Duck and the rest of them around since you’d been able to drive, saving everything from working at the grocery store to buy the rusted orange hippie van that had been sitting on the lot for decades.

“Fuckin’ hippie.”

That been the reaction when the newly washed and detailed van had rolled into the school parking lot for the first time, and it hadn’t really changed since. It had grown on everyone, mostly since it was the sole working vehicle in a group of outcasts. Gas milage had been paid back in movie tickets, French fries and new albums to play as the weaved through the old, quiet town. Now, the car was filled with the essentials for a party, and Duck’s cap joined the pile unceremoniously.

“So, how was graduation?”

“Mrs. Jenkins got onto me for wearin’ jeans. Ya’ can’t even see them under this thing.”

“And the boots?”

“They’re black and leather, they ain’t dress shoes but they count I guess.”

The gown went next, this time folded properly in his lap before it ended up in the floorboard.

“Your mama’s gonna want that, don’t fuckin’ step on it or anything.”

Duck didn’t say anything, and as a red light paused the journey onto adventure, the moment of silence allowed you to look at him for the first time since he’d gotten in the car. The glow of the stop light cast deep shadows across his face, deeper than they’d been the last time you saw him. Graduating a year early was an achievement but leaving behind friends took a toll on all of you. Duck had barely graduated on time, luckily, because the thought of not getting to see him walk across the stage wasn’t something you would entertain. You’d prolonged leaving Kepler, taking a year to gather the courage to apply for colleges outside of borders of West Virginia and save up money for what loans wouldn’t cover. You hadn’t told any of them that you’d been accepted, not even Duck.

Now, looking at him, you doubted that you could. This kid, this scruffy punk of a kid that had worn down the woven cover of the passenger seat for the past few years now sat filling the indent as, well, a man. Would you recognize him a year from now? Would that messy mane of dark curls, now tinted the color of wine in the light, still hang around broad shoulders? Or would it be chopped short, combed down in its unruliness to meet the standards of some paper-pusher. It was hard to imagine his nose without the splatter of freckles that connected like constellations. Blue eyes shifted green as they turned to yours, soft lines of laugher pulling as his expression shifted.

“Go, doofus. The light’s green.”

Your foot hit the gas before you could look away, feeling embarrassment crawl up from your stomach to turn your face red hot. Duck was not the thirteen-year-old you sat next to in English class anymore. That Duck Newton barely fit his daddy’s boots and had braces. That Duck Newton got hit in the face with a frisbee in seventh grade and broke his nose. This Duck Newton, well…

Dammit, Duck was attractive.

You much preferred when he was younger and you could pick on him for his dorky belts and oversized shirts, but those days were long gone now. A sickness settled in your stomach at the thought, a reminder that things were going to start changing, that maybe this was going to change with it. The rolling stop in front of the gas station pushed the thought aside, Duck making sure not to slam the door as you both hopped out and wandered through the dingy glass doors.

“I’m not gonna survive off chips and beer tonight, so I’m getting something to eat, I’m starving. Grab anything you want, cept cigarettes.”

“Thanks, mom.”

“You’re a riot, Duck.”

A twenty-dollar bill and a couple of bags later, and Duck is balancing gas-station cheese fries on his lap as you bump down the campsite path into the Monongahela. It was quiet, the soft strumming from the tape-deck barely audible over the sound of the forest and the crunch of twigs under the wheels. Duck shifted with a sigh, rolling up the sleeves of his flannel as the sticky summer air fought against the AC.

“I’m thinking of quittin’.”

“Sorry?”

“Cigarettes. They’re not really my thing anyway, just easier to hide the funk from other stuff with.”

“I assume you’re not quitting that too, huh?”

“Hell no, especially not when I know you’ve got Juno’s stash in your glove compartment.”

“How’d you know that?”

“Little trees can only hide so much.”

You laughed as the air freshener bounced in agreement after a large bump, the swaying mocking your not-so-clever hiding. You could barely speak through hiccupping giggles that echoed in Duck’s soft, gruffer than ever, chuckling.

“Well, I think it’s a good idea that you stay way from tobacco. That shit kills your lungs.”

“Yeah, Juno’s been on my ass about them, and I hate the think about if Jane got into them from me somehow.”

“I’m proud of you.”

It was quiet for the rest of the way, Duck stumbling before clamming up entirely and taking to staring out the window and letting you polish off the rest of the fries to chew through the returning awkwardness.

There was already a fire going when you pulled into the campsite, Juno Divine kicking the rest of the foliage from the neat ring of dirt in classic “only you can prevent forest fires” fashion. A few others had gathered, people they knew but weren’t close enough to the inner circle to matter. Sarah Drake had been invited by someone and sat sprawled across a lawn chair talking to one of the boys Duck knew. A few people from the graduating class, a few outside friends that joined in celebration. The group was small, but soon the volume grew as you climbed through the back of the van to change music and Duck rounded up the rest of the boys to set up the tents, only to be rescued by Juno when the first tent collapsed. By the end of it, the sun had already begun to sink behind the trees.

You had thrown the potatoes on the fire during the chaos, deciding to turn the van around and pulling open the rear doors instead of lugging the grungy ice-chests down onto the dirt. It wasn’t long before the boys had passed around the beer, smuggled out of your dad’s garage refrigerator in the early hours of the morning, and Sarah Drake joined you in settling into hard cider. The rest of the food joined the fire, hot dogs shoved onto sticks alongside ears of corn while jars of pickles and other condiments lined up on your bumper. You monitored the set up with Sarah settled on top of ice-chests inside and Juno keeping an extra eye as the others stoked the fire.

“How the fuck can you drink that shit?”

Sarah was grimacing as Juno downed the rest of her beer.

“Ya don’t drink it for the taste, you drink it to get drunk, it doesn’t matter. ‘sides, I like it. It’s earthy.”

“And you call me the hippie.”

“Tastes like grass.”

You’d barely noticed Duck shuffle next to you, abandoning the other boys as rowdiness grew in favor of rummaging through the ice chest for another drink. Sarah quickly abandoned the conversation when Duck sidled up beside her, crawling into the front seat and popping out the cassette. You turned back to Juno with Duck at your hip, picking up where the conversation had left off.

“Cider has the same alcohol content as beer and doesn’t take like piss.”

“Lemme try.”

You handed Duck your bottle without a second thought, watching him tilt about a third of it down his throat before handing it back. He only shrugged, digging another bottle out and shaking his fingers from the ice as his tongue dragged across his lips. The movement froze you in your place for a moment, eyes becoming too focused on the chapped swell of his bottom lip. It took too long to look away, but luckily Duck didn’t notice the faulter before you were able to cast you eye back down to the bottle that had briefly been against the current distraction before forcing yourself to take your own drink.

The food offered a short reprieve, Juno kicking out the balls of tin foil that were the campfire potatoes out of the flame while you carried armfuls of supplies to the picnic table to set up. Duck joined to help at some point, popping open a pickle jar you struggled to open for a solid two minutes in seconds and smiling when you joked about loosening it for him. The group fell into quiet chunks of conversation amongst the wailing guitar of Sarah’s choosing, Juno and Duck climbing into the padded back of the van beside you to take refuge from the smoke and summertime insects. Duck sighed into the silence after a few minutes, and then broke it.

“So, uh, what happens now?”

Juno huffed, falling back onto her hands.

“I’m thinking of applying for the forestry service.”

“What about you?”

Looking up, the two of them were staring right at you. You hummed, picking at the butter-laden potato on your lap as you thought carefully. Of course, you would be the beacon for what comes next, you’d been out of school for a year already and stalling all the way.

“I mean, whatever you want I guess. Go to college, get out of Kepler, work, we don’t have the money to travel like the uppity pricks but we’ve got options.”

“What are you doin’ next?”

A heavy sigh, you could feel Duck’s eyes digging into your temple as you stumbled for the answer. You’d already made a mistake; you were taking way too long to answer, and Duck spotted it right away. He didn’t have a plan; he’d applied to community college and a couple others because it was what you did at the end of high school but picking a work field or degree just wasn’t happening. Duck’s purpose was already set up for him, nothing he did mattered in the grand scheme of things except waking up every morning and continuing to breathe.

So, he stared as you mulled over how to answer, flickering from the roll of your lips together and the nervous tick of placing a hand across the bare skin of shoulder to the way your chest rose as you took a breath to answer.

“I... got accepted to a college in Boston. I start in the fall.”

“Shit, that soon?”

“I mean, that’s when school starts. I’ll still be here all summer, and I’ll be back for Christmas. It’s not that far away.”

“What’cha going to school for? Like, what do you wanna, uh, study?”

You deflated with relief when Duck finally spoke again, looking more confused than anything as he slid off the bumper.

“Don’t know yet.”

He hummed, stretching his arms behind his head until his back cracked. You continued, watching the crumpled expression he made at the motion and the shake of his hands as they fell to his sides.

“Gotta figure out-“

The words stopped on your tongue when your gaze shifted to the motion of Duck re-adjusting his shirt, too short from another recent growth spurt that had put him a head above you.

“-figure out what I wanna do.”

Juno’s elbow dug into your side as soon as he’d shuffled away to refill his plate, hissing through a smile as she turned to you.

“Real smooth, you gonna tell him before you leave or what?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play with me, you’ve had eyes on him since that party down in Riverside when he was loose enough to dance.”

“Oh please, you know I’m not the only one.”

“You’re the only one he does it back to.”

Blinking, you could only sputter as Juno rolled her eyes and went after Duck for more food. Juno was right about most things; she’d been smarter than most of you since she learned how to talk and didn’t let any of you forget it. But this, this was the one-time Juno Divine’s keen sense of intuition was dead wrong. You were like a sister to Duck, that’s what he’d always seemed to believe, and you’d assumed nothing different in the years you’d known each other. Watching him double over with laughter at some joke told around the picnic table, blue eyes crinkling and dimples digging into his cheeks, you could only think to do one thing while swimming through a sea of confusion conjured up by one future forest ranger, Juno Divine.  
  
You opened another drink.


	2. it's us that made this mess

A few beers and ciders pulled the small party into chaos.

You gave up after a substantial buzz did nothing to deter your heavy mental math of putting together any details that could point to anything Juno Divine said tonight being true. Duck was hard to read, the only think you ever knew for sure about him was if he was lying or not, but otherwise it was a mess of drawl and sarcasm.

He’d gotten enough liquor in him to start joining in on the other boys’ shenanigans with little convincing. One final leap over the now dying fire and he stumbled into the blanket you’d sprawled out across, giving up and falling next to you with a goofy smile. The conversation swung into reminiscing about the last year, and you fell into the stars above. It was rough, not being able to join these conversations the same way everyone else did, but it was still nice to hear them look back fondly. You became lost in the blackness above, tracing the stars to the farthest corners of the horizon and imagining them far behind the pines.

Who knew what was waiting past all of it, past the river, past the mountains, past Kepler, past the galaxy?

It was utterly terrifying, and oddly thrilling.

“Hey, uh, you still on earth?”

You nearly jumped out of your skin, eyes focusing on the boy leaning over you instead of the night sky. Duck was slumped down into one elbow, eyes clear and his hair sloppily pulled back. He looked concerned; one eyebrow quirked up as they furrowed.

“Absolutely not, I’m on Neptune mother-fucker.”

“You want company up there or, uh, are you wantin’ to be alone?’

The silence became deafening, the only noises left the slow crackle of the low fire and the wildlife. A couple of tents rustled, but otherwise everyone had turned in for the night.

“How long was I out?”

“Dunno, you were kind of just spacin’ for a little bit. People got tired and turned in from the booze I think.”

It was hard to find an answer, so you instead settled on nodding and returning to the sky. An awkward thickness settled over you, neither you nor Duck moving for what felt like hours. Eventually he collapsed into the blanket next to you, pulling a bag behind his head instead of one of the lawn furniture pillows that had been nicked from parents. It was quiet again for a long time, and the longer it went on the more aware of the warmth seeping through Duck’s flannel and into your shoulder you became. He wasn’t that close, you could have shifted without touching him, but he was so fucking warm he could have heated half of topside through April.

You hadn’t expected him to start talking again.

“So, uh, you’re really leaving?”

There was a twinge of something in his voice that you couldn’t register, it felt completely out of place in the normally relaxed and sarcastic Duck Newton.

“I guess so, for a little while at least.”

“’Gonna be real different outside of Kepler.”

“That’s kind of the point, I think. You gotta see what’s out there, find a purpose or something you love, see a little of the world.”

“I guess…”

“You gonna stay in Kepler?”

This conversation needed to move; it was swerving into first-quarter life crisis territory quickly.

“Probably, I was, uh, talking to Juno earlier about maybe applyin’ to the forestry service like her? Seemed kinda nice, being alone out here like that, not really having to deal with people unless you’re helpin’ them out or tellin’ em off.”

“Alright, Smokey Bear.”

“Shut the fu-I’m fuckin’ serious!”

You couldn’t help but laugh as his voice cracked in frustration, tossing one arm to the side to faux-pat his shoulder before shifting to look towards him.

“I mean it Duck, it’s something I could see you doing.”

“Yeah?”

“You’d probably look good in the uniform.”

It was his turn to laugh, full and loud enough that you shushed him through your own smile. Duck finally pulled it together as he shifted, popping something in his shoulder before turning to face you with one arm tucked under his jaw.

“Guess you’ll have to come back and find out, give you a reason to come see us.”

“Like I need a reason.”

“I think the shorts might look a little stupid.”

“You’re still traumatized from when that one rich chick made you wear those shorts to her dads Fourth of July party huh?”

“I thought the entire point of her datin’ me was to get back at her pa’, it was weird.”

“Duck she was datin’ you cause you’re hot.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“I will not, this is your night and you’re gonna listen to me complimenting you.”

“If it’s my night, like ya’ said, then shouldn’t I get a say in what I wanna do on it?”

“Not on this you don’t.”

“What about somethin’ else?”

“Like what?”

Quiet once again, for a moment. It was long enough to watch his nose crinkle in contemplation and his eyes dilate as the fire sunk lower, but quickly ended as Duck’s eyes focused on yours and he sighed a quiet curse.

“Duck?’

He moved slowly, like you would when you didn’t want to disturb a deer or other such animal in the woods, slowly but with purpose. The stars faded into the night, dimmed as Duck shifted an arm under himself and leaned until he was inches above you and new constellations came into view. At any other moment it would have been an opportunity to tease about the near perfect Orion’s belt that had formed under a tear duct, but this moment Duck was staring at you with that familiar look of sincerity.

His voice barely rose above the calm crackle of the fire.

“I, uh, fu- Is it okay if I kiss you?”

You couldn’t answer fast enough, nodding and almost bumping noses in the process. He smiled, the dimples in his cheeks sinking with his shoulders as he breathed a shaking breath. The next movement seemed to go on forever, a hesitant lean that doubled back on itself as Duck thought too hard about the situation.

“You don’t uh, have to, just ‘cause of the party and all, uh, I-“

“Duck Newton, shut up and kiss me like you want to.”

There wasn’t any chance for classic comebacks, you took Duck’s moment of stunned chuckling to knot your fingers into the flannel hanging from his shoulders and pulled him slowly back until you could feel his breath across your lips and smell the chocolate he’d had earlier in the night. It was only seconds for him to regain confidence, closing the space between you as his eyes fell closed.

It was the only way kissing Duck Newton could have possibly felt like.

At first, it was soft. He barely put pressure behind it, letting your lips mold against his own, slightly chapped from the breeze but full and gentle. But all it took as another tug on his shirt to encourage him, pulling him into you until you could feel the hair fallen from his elastic against your shoulder and that damned warmth spreading into your chest. Duck shifted, a soft thud from an arm pressing into the blanket by your shoulder to balance himself as the kiss grew drawing your attention for only a second. Your breath was knocked out of you, the rush of blood through your ears deafening.

When your fingers laced themselves into the hair at the base of his neck and tucked under his jaw, he collapsed. The space he’d been trying to keep between you was thrown to the wind as your chest pressed against his and ripped denim pushed between bare knees, Duck fully shifting to hover above you. The temperature was quickly rising, you could feel his skin flushing in your palm as things became heated. He found his balance, freeing a hand to hover hesitantly near your waist even his teeth pulled at your bottom lip. The bold move arched your back into him, pressing into him and filling his palm with the curve of your hip, his fingers reflexively closing around you.

Your gasp broke the kiss, Duck’s eyes instantly searching your face with concern. All he saw was your cheeks turn red and your eyes focus on where you had become connected, the pressure of his thigh pressed firmly between yours for balance burning though your stomach. Duck was breathing as hard as you were, but he went completely still when he realized what had stopped this long-needed make-out. You could feel his muscles tense again as embarrassment sunk in, already hearing the stumbling apology that was coming faster than his brain could work.

It didn’t get very far.

He could only grunt as you kissed him again, fumbling to regain his hold and blinking dumbly as you spoke against his lips.

“Keep going.”

Once again, his fingers dug into the fabric at your hips, slipping into the belt loops of your shorts as he tore his lips away from yours. There wasn’t a second to complain before they were pressed against your jaw and making their way down your neck. His teeth made contact, you couldn’t help but fidget at the feeling, and then Duck was pulling at your hips as the pressure appeared again. It was getting harder to keep quiet, especially when you could feel his smile against your neck before he bit down again.

“Shit.”

The cold air hit you all at once as Duck rolled off, sitting up awkwardly at the sound of someone shuffling off into the woods. The stars were too bright now, glaring down at you as embarrassment flooded into the empty pockets that were left behind when your make-out session with your best friend, Duck Newton, suddenly ended. Sitting up too fast caused your head to spin but you ignored it, pushing through it until you were firmly on your feet and Duck was stumbling up after you. It was hard to look at him with the knowledge of how red your face probably was, only chancing a glance at his overly apologetic expressions as he stuttered through an apology. You barely heard him over the blood pounding through your ears, so you cut him off.

“We should get some sleep, it’s really late.”

“Hey, wait, uh, listen I’m real s-“

“Don’t worry about it, Duck, it’s fine.”

He fell quiet, and you knew he was doing that thing where he shoves his hands in his pockets as far as they’ll go and rock back on his heels while he thinks too hard. You could only sigh at how correct you were, turning towards him and placing a hand against his cheek for a moment before moving towards your tent. He didn’t move, or at least didn’t make a sound while doing it, even as you waved lazily over your shoulder.

“Goodnight, Duck Newton. I’ll see you soon.”


	3. the radio reminds me of my home far away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic wasn't supposed to this long but I can't help but wax poetic about how much I love Duck Newton

“When the hell did they close down the diner?”

Your question blew in the empty, warm air of your driver’s seat. It had been too long since you’d been back, longer than expected, that was for sure. The farther you had driven towards the tramway to topside the more potholes appeared, the van curving around the ruts just like it had years ago. Now that you’d headed backdown towards Riverside, things started becoming unfamiliar. Pulling into the local store felt bittersweet, looking up at glowing fast-food beacon that had gone up over the old greasy spoon looming over the piles of firewood and reflecting off the ice-machine outside the general store.

Your parents had mentioned the gentrification that had swarmed into Kepler not long after you’d moved into your final degree, you just hadn’t expected how much had changed. The longer you looked the more you regretted your time away from Kepler.

The first couple of holiday breaks had been as expected, coming home to family and friends, long winded conversations over cider in Juno’s backyard about what everyone had been doing. As one major turned into two, and that turned into a master’s program, plus a job to pay for classes and the first internship you could find, you went home less and less. It had been ten, maybe more, years since you’d stepped back into Kepler, West Virginia, and it had been about the same since you’d had more than a passing conversation with the people that made your adolescence memorable. Juno wrote now and again, once she’d figured out where you’d been living, your parents had seen your apartment, you’d sent out graduation invites, you’d even called the Newton’s and gotten Duck’s landline after he moved out of his parent’s house, but after a while it all faded into the background of growing up.

Duck Newton.

It all fell apart so easily. First it was you missing a trip home for the summer, then he had to leave early for work at your last birthday at home, you’d gotten a boyfriend and spent the next one with him, that Christmas you’d gone with your family to Florida to get over him, and it spiraled from there. You’d talked to him a few times on the phone, congratulating him on getting his job, but when his number changed it was harder to keep up with him.

All it took was three or four moments spent tapping your fingers on the kitchen counter while the phone rang into his supposedly empty apartment for you to back off. It had been a little awkward between the two of you after the whole kissing fiasco, but you had hoped your friendship would survive it, or that you’d at least eventually talk about it.

The following morning had been rushed, everyone packing up to be out of the campsite by mid-morning while also recovering from various stages of a hang-over. You’d taken a couple of hits with Juno before joining the chaos, hoping to shake off the nerves with a mix of Mary-Jane and campfire coffee. Duck, supposedly, had already been up for a while, or he hadn’t gone to sleep at all, it was hard to tell. He also indulged in Juno’s stash before helping tear down tents and helping her assess the status of the campsite once it was all said and done, but the two of you didn’t get a chance to say much more than,

“Good morning.”

You’d driven back to your house alone.

Duck didn’t cast you out, not on purpose, he was too good a person for that. Awkwardness wounded the friendship, but the distance, your distance, killed it in the end.

Now, you couldn’t help but look up at that obnoxious fast-food sign and feel sick at how fast everything seemed to change. The engine died as you removed the key, pulling your hat over your ears heading into the store as soon as the car door shut behind you. It was quiet in the store, the low hum of a cd player somewhere near the back barely heard over the hum of the fluorescents and the dull ringing of the bell that chimed with the door. It didn’t take long to collect the honest means you needed for your stay, checking your list now and again before heading to check out with the only cashier in the place.

“Hey, Mr. Tarkesian. How’s life been treating you?”

“Oh, you know, as well as life can.”

“Pretty damn well then, huh?”

Leo Tarkesian could only laugh, handing back your change and receipt before offering to help get the bags out to the van. You declined with a glance at the scarce people that had begun to line up behind you, balancing one on each hip and clutching the third as you backed out of the door. You’d barely noticed the new car parked on the passenger side, rushing to get the door open before you dropped something. The key had barely gotten into the door when you felt the third bag slipping, shifting to get it half balanced against the shining orange paint before it tumbled.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, lemme get that.”

“Thanks, you really didn’t need to do that, I had it.’

“S’not a problem ‘mam. In all honesty you were about to have about four eggs and a dented can of tomatoes out of that bag, woulda’ been a shame.”

“You’re the hero of breakfast, lunch and dinner, thanks.”

You’d stepped up into the drivers’ seat of the van, settling the first two bags in the floorboard before taking the last bag from helpful hands. It didn’t take long to get everything situated to survive the winding turns back to your parent’s house higher up on Topside. The voice behind you seemed more distant than it had before, echoing into the open driver’s side door.

“Hey, uh, I hope ya’ don’t mind my askin’, but where’d you get this car?”

Climbing out of the van, you expected him to be standing where you’d left him seconds before but turning around only rewarded you with the blooming trees across the empty parking lot and the billboard announcing the local Easter egg hunt at one of the churches. You walked, confused, around the front bumper, wondering if he’d been checking it out to try and buy it off you before you’d walked out. This happened occasionally, people got nostalgic about the model or some kid wanted to turn it into a camper or a tiny-whatever to live off the grid, but he wasn’t there. Responding a little louder than needed, you listened for the response.

“Whistles Auto, was the only one ever on the lot.”

“Really? Guess I mus’v missed it… an, uh, old friend of mine had a car just like it…”

You saw him before you really heard him, rounding back around the driver’s side door as he shuffled out from behind the back of the car and you had a chance to look at him.

It was so obvious; you don’t know how you hadn’t noticed sooner.

“Duck?”

How you hadn’t recognized him by his voice alone was a mystery to you, maybe it was the years of not hearing it, maybe it was because you weren’t listening for it, but now that you recognized the good Samaritan in front of you, it felt so silly to not have noticed sooner. How he spoke hadn’t changed a bit, his voice maybe had gotten a little deeper and his tone more professional, but only one person you’d ever known talked like that.

He looked up from the back door at the nickname, brows knit together.

It was Duck alright.

It was Duck, but all grown up. The same thick dark hair stuck out from under the near-humorously stereotypical forest ranger hat, a little shorter but still haphazardly tied back with an elastic too light to blend into the curls and too loose to hold them all back from falling into his face. Bright eyes stood out against tanner skin, surrounded by the same-but-deeper laugh lines.

“Yeah, uh, that’s the nickname-“

You could see the wheels turning in his head, it probably didn’t help that you’d dyed your hair at least twice since he’d last seen you and your hair had never been the same since, or that unlike teenage boys, teenage girls didn’t really hit their peak until their early twenties. You’d grown up, and from the range of emotions crossing his face, you guessed he was slowly going through the same realization you’d gone through on that early summer night in the driver’s seat on the way to his graduation party.

“-hold on, uh, you’re no-“

Pulling off your hat, it landed in the driver’s seat as you closed the door. The sick feeling that he may not recognize you had settled into your stomach, the idea of backing out of the entire situation crossed your mind, and the reality that this entire situation could turn out much more awkward than you had thought when blinded by the happy shock of seeing an old friend sunk in. You swore you heard the light click on in Duck’s head as he looked back up from the noise of the car door swinging shut.

“Holy shit.”

All your nerves flew out with one laugh, watching a smile break out across Duck’s face. The familiar accent spurred more laughter, amplified by that one phrase alone. It grew butterflies in your stomach. Duck hesitantly stepped forward, hands shoved down into his pockets as he took two steps and then rocked back on his heels. He really hadn’t changed that much, even in the goofy green and khaki forest ranger uniform. Duck was broader, a little taller, things you would expect to happen to a man as he grew older, but all the things that made him special stayed.

If he had seemed to have grown into a man all those years ago, it was obvious now.

“I apologize, I, uh, really didn’t expect to see you, uh, ag- well, today.”

“If you did, I’d assume you were psychic or stalking me.”

“Ya’ know what I mean, uh-“

“Duck, it’s fine, only my parents know I’m here.”

“They still live in the same place, that, uh, old two story with the ivy near the funicular, right?”

“Yeah, until I get them moved out of it, I guess.”

Duck nodded, rocking a little further back on his heel as his mouth seemed to work along with his brain to grasp the situation. Now that he’d moved a little closer, you could see the hints of a five o’clock shadow along his jaw as it tensed. You followed his gaze, looking down at the spot on car door he kept glancing back to. The van had gotten a fresh coat of paint more than once since you’d left, a couple of fender benders and just natural wear dulling the details over time. One spot had never been touched, a ring of slightly off paint fading into the current orange shade.

Within the first month of having the van, you’d all gotten decently high in the back seat and decided to paint the van. Juno’s acrylics had covered the driveway and, eventually, your clothes. It was one of your first memories in the van, and one of your fondest.

Juno had been wrong that night at the campsite, your school-girl crush on Duck Newton had sparked that very night, you’d just written it off as being too high for your own good off weed and teenage dreams. He’d thrown you over his shoulder when you’d threatened to connect his freckles with bright blue, knocking the brush from your hands and sending it into your driver’s side door. You’d guilted him into turning the stain into art, blaming your flush on the weed and falling down onto the concrete next to him as he worked. The blue brush mark had turned into a shaky flower, which was joined by other plants done by Juno and yourself and turned the bottom corner of your door sentimental. Duck had signed his name as a joke, and he’d commented on how he didn’t think sharpie would last long, but you never told him that you’d put a clear coat over it yourself a few days later in the hopes that it would never fade.

“So, uh, you stayin’ for very long?”

The question shook your focus, shifting the memory of a teenage Duck Newton in a paint-stained flannel to the awkward adult Duck leaning one shoulder against the van. He was making eye-contact for the first time in the entire interaction, so you hurried to answer in hope that he wouldn’t notice the blood raising to the top of your skin as old emotions came rushing back.

“Until everything’s done, dad’s retiring so they decided to move into a smaller place down Riverside, let mom get back to her hobbies without having to take care of a big house, something dad can turn into a project.”

“You selling the house?”

“Maybe, either we sell it or it’s mine.”

Duck nodded, looking down at his feet again as he tried to figure out what to say next. A buzz from a radio at his hip caused you both to jump, Duck fumbling to click it on before mumbling into the receiver.

“Uh, go for Duck.”

“Duck Newton, where the fuck are you?”

A fuzzy Juno Devine came through, you quickly stepped forward to lean into the radio and listen. Juno hadn’t talked to you since she’d called last Christmas, asking if you were coming for the high school reunion, and sounding sore when you sad you were going to have to skip out for a work opportunity. Duck sent a sheepish smile your way before replying.

“I, uh, sorry about that, I uh, saw a- fuck, I saw a baby, uh, rabbit on the road and, uh-“

You couldn’t hold in you giggling, watching him look around in panic before he found the Easter billboard across the street and stumbled for a good enough lie. There was no way you were going to let him get away with this.

“C’mon Ranger Devine, you know he can’t lie for shit.”

“What the hell are you doing here?!”

“How about I tell you about it over a cider or something?”

“You the reason he’s late?”

Duck was slowly turning red, there was no way to hide it. You didn’t know if he was just embarrassed that Juno was riding him or for another, selfishly hopeful, reason entirely. He ran a hand down his face, pressing his fingers into his temples before pulling the receiver away from you with a sigh.

“Sorry Juno, I’m on my way.’

“You better be, there’s a tree down on the road to one of the campsites, I’m gonna need some help clearing it before I go on lunch. Which, I might add, was supposed to happen fifteen minutes ago.”

“Got it, I’ll be there in ten, I, uh, I’ll owe you for- uh, for something.”

“Uh-huh.”

The radio clicked to silence, Duck hooking the radio back onto his belt before rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. He laughed, awkwardly, but smiled anyway as he looked back to you. Shifting away, he circled around until he was able to walk backwards towards the Monongahela Forestry Service car that was parked besides yours. As soon as there was distance between you, you realized that damned warmth that came off him had spread to your shoulder and chest when you leaned into him to bother Juno. How quickly it faded with the slight chill of the breeze made your chest ache, faintly. You ignored it, focusing one Duck’s stumbling question instead.

“Hey, uh, do you wanna do somethin’ or, uh, I mean, if you’re not busy or-“

“Spit it out Duck, you gotta go.”

He nearly tripped over the sidewalk as he walked backwards towards his car, and you stifled your smile.

“Fu- Alright. Look, I’m off this weekend and I was wonderin’ if you’d wanna go out for a drink, or, uh, get lunch or something. It’s alright if you don’t wanna, I understand if you’ve got things to do or don’t wan-“

“Do you need my number?”

“What?”

“My phone number, Duck, so you can call me?”

“Oh, uh, yeah, I should still have it somewhere.’

“Good, so call me. Now go to work!”

Duck nodded, waving quickly before jumping into his car and starting the engine. You couldn’t help but laugh, watching him roll down his window to back out of the parking space and stammering to change gears correctly as the car groaned. A sigh shook his shoulders, shaking his head as the car rolled out of the lot. The reality of what had just happened hit you, pooling heat under your skin and sending you back to high school where those butterflies had first hatched. You didn’t know if this situation was what it felt like, it was probably just two friends catching up again, but some part of you could only see this as the closest you were every going to get to Duck Newton asking you out on a date. He waved an arm out the open window as you called after, his smile reflecting in the rear-view mirror before it disappeared around the corner.

“And say hello to Juno for me!”

Luckily, at least one thing about Kepler didn’t change.


	4. i won't be denied by you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The spicy stuff is in the next chapter, I promise

The phone rang the next morning after breakfast, your mom answering the phone and calling you from the kitchen. You’d taken to repainting the guest bedroom with your dad after breakfast, since it was hard to move things into a house that wasn’t ready yet and you were running out of places to put the boxes that were already packed. You’d been halfway up a ladder, irritating the rest the house by blaring your old cd’s and painting the guest room a non-offensive neutral when you heard the second call from downstairs, this time louder.

“The Newton boy is on the phone!”

You could hear him laughing on the other end of the line when you picked up, pulling the line to it’s full extension and waving a hand to quiet your parents teasing as the left you alone in the kitchen. You put the phone to your ear with a smile.

“I’m sorry, they think they’re so funny.”

“I’ve not heard that since I was, what? Seventeen?”

“Probably, we stopped using the phone after a while, kinda happens when I was your only ride anywhere.”

“Hey, I had a skateboard.”

You laughed, loudly, pulling the phone away from you to attempt to save his ears before returning.

“Alright, alright skaterboy, so, what’s the plan?”

“Well, uh, fu-“

He stuttered, you could hear the faint sound of movement and what sounded like a cat over his stumbling. He was at his apartment; your interest was immediately piqued. You couldn’t imagine what the adult Duck Newton’s place looked like, which wasn’t surprising, you had a hard time imagining adult Duck Newton at all up until yesterday. You still couldn’t imagine Juno in a uniform, even though you’d seen it on Duck. That kind of thing just kind of happens when you grow up with someone the way you did with Duck and Juno.

“I, uh, well most of the places we could eat we’ve even been to a thousand times, or they’re gone and some new, uh, chain restaurant have gone in to please the tourists…”

“Duck, I really don’t mind, we could go to the same pizza joint we went to after every game if you wanted to.”

The soft laugh from the other end woke up the butterflies again, and you gave your attention to the dried paint around your fingernails to avoid addressing them.

“Fuck it, you know what we never did? We never got to go out for drinks.”

“We got drunk so many time-“

“I mean, fu- I mean fucking legally, c’mon, cut me some slack here.”

“You’ve got a place in mind?”

“Yeah, you know what I do, you wanna meet there or uh, wanna take the van or should I-, uh-“

Meeting there seemed to be the best bet, anything else seemed too much like date territory for either of you. The time and place were set soon after, with many promises from Ducks end that he was paying since he was who brought it up in the first place, which you argued just to get him riled up. His voice still cracked whenever he got a little stirred, a fact that made you smile so much your cheeks started to ache. He hung up soon after the decision, saying he owed Juno lunch, so he was going in early with pizza to make up for yesterday. Duck was as good a person as ever, maybe more so than he had been years ago. At least, that’s what your mom kept saying every time she asked about him for the rest of the day. Your parents had snuck back into the kitchen soon after the call ended, the questions and knowing looks sending you back to furiously painting the guest bedroom.

The next day you were a mess of nerves, waking up at first light and busying yourself with everything you possibly could until you couldn’t put off getting ready any longer. You didn’t do this kind of thing very often, the couple of boyfriends you did have through high school and early college years happening entirely on circumstance. Going out, just with friends or something bigger, didn’t happen very often. You had to keep convincing that stuck-in-high school part of yourself that this wasn’t a date. Would you feel this way Juno had been the one to run into you? Probably not, you didn’t know if Juno swung that way, she’d always been more interested in nature than dating. Then again, Juno hadn’t made out with you under the stars or been unknowingly sexually frustrating you for years. You tried to push that thought down the drain during the fastest shower you’ve ever taken, quickly scrubbing yourself over and going over the full routine in record time. You’d picked out a few contenders for what you were going to wear the night before, but looking at them all now, you weren’t sure if it was too much for drinks and snacks on a Friday night. Either way, you didn’t have time to tear through your closet in classic late 90’s teen-flick-fashion.

“Ah, fuck it.”

Now you stood outside your van in the town center, in front of a bar that looked like it belonged in a ski resort, not the streets of Kepler. You barely glanced at the average-Appalachian sign above the bar before leaning against your car and looking around for Duck. It was nice outside, the barest bit of sundown still peaking over the horizon and painting the sky purple, the slightest breeze blowing the smell of Spring growth down the barely busy street. A few cars were parked near yours, and you could hear the faintest of music coming from inside tinted windows. You caught your reflection in those windows, taking a second to look over your still-slightly damp hair as it became messier with ever breeze. Boots scuffed at the ground as you waited, long coat whipping the holes in dark jeans. The place was the nicer than you’d expected, from the outside at least, and you assumed it must have opened recently.

“Hey.”

Duck was standing a few feet away, hands shoved into the pockets of faded jeans with an awkward smile. You couldn’t help but stare a little, at least to look at him without the uniform on. He was still wearing work boots, clean ones, with jeans that had only begun to fray at the bottom, a rust-colored Henley that he’d missed the top button on, a standard Monongahela forestry service jacket, and a flannel you knew he’d had since he was sixteen. The smile that spread across your face wasn’t anything you could help, especially not when he mirrored it before moving closer to you. It was still Duck, uniform or not, but seeing him dressed like the leveled-up version of your adolescent memories stirred something in the pit of your stomach. Why couldn’t he have gotten dorky with age, instead of more attractive? You were never going to be able to deny that Duck Newton, was gorgeous, whether he was wearing a dorky uniform or casual remnants of burnouts past. 

Duck ran a hand through his hair, thick and falling loose around his shoulders, before nodding towards the door.

“Do you wanna, uh, go in?”

It didn’t take long for the awkwardness to fade now that the shock from running in to each other had worn off. A cider each probably helped, so did arguing over what to order to snack on in your corner of the bar. Duck knew almost every person in the place, waving to a couple of people and addressing the bartender by name, but turned to you as soon as you’d gotten to the far end of the bar like there wasn’t anyone else in the room. Duck had always been a good person, polite behind are the sarcasm, and now you were inclined to call him a gentleman. He took your jackets to the coat rack before settling down next to you, and then it all seemed to fall back into comfortable familiarity.

“Does Juno know you drink cider?”

“No, she does not, and she’s not gonna’ know unless you tell her.”

“Secrets safe with me, scouts honor.”

Duck nearly choked at your faux salute, laughing as he slid a second drink your way and shifted himself around to face you more. Somehow the conversation fell into what you’d missed in each other’s life, Duck explaining that he’d applied to the forestry service not long after you’d left and gotten in with a few good words from Juno and his history working odd jobs through high school. You glazed over the rough patches, not wanting to down the conversations and content in letting Duck ramble about the finer details of what had been going on in Kepler for the past few years. The topic of the missed school reunion appeared anyway, Duck’s brow furrowing as he thought for too long before locking eyes with you.

“We, uh, really missed you, uh, there. Juno said you had a, work thing?”

“Yeah. I had a chance to go to California for a trip, it was part of a starting position for a job I was after.”

“Did you, uh, get it?”

“No, but it’s okay, I had a better opportunity, and it was a good time. I’m a little pissed, I missed seeing you all and being able to come back…”

“Not gonna lie, kinda wished you were there. You, uh, remember that girl I dated, the one who I thought was datin’ me to make her daddy mad?”

You nodded, washing down the bad taste in your mouth that followed the question with a heavy swig of cider and a pretzel bite.

“Well, uh, she was there and had seemed to forgotten all about breakin’ up with me for that kid from New York, not that I was too sore ‘bout it, I’ve always been pretty bad at the whole datin’ thing but-fuck, it would’a been nice to have you to back up Juno. You were always good at that kinda’ thing.”

“Are you kidding me? You’ve always had more experience with that kind of thing; besides, I would have just been telling you that I was right. She dated you because you’re hot, Duck, and nothing’s really changed.”

Fuck.

You could feel your filter disappearing, taking the water you were offered and shoving another pretzel in your mouth to compensate for it. Duck stumbled for a second before falling silent, you could feel him thinking, even as you stared into you own glass and willed your ears to cool down. You only looked up again when he cleared his throat, rubbing at his jeans with his palm anxiously before speaking, quieter than before.

“Do you, uh, wanna talk about i- fuck, uh, what happened?”

He looked at you, nervously, and the wall you had been attempting to build up to save yourself from the embarrassment of this conversation crumbled. Blue eyes met yours, darkened and reflecting the candles scattered along the bar and something in your slightly buzzed, crush-stricken brain locked onto the line of freckles below his tea duct. You’d raised a hand before you could think about it, pressing it against his cheek and gently drawing a thumb over the freckles.

“Orion has legs now.”

Duck blinked, chuckling lightly as you pulled your hand away and shaking his head. It was true, the line of freckles below his tear duct had new additions, fully forming the bottom half of the constellation before spreading out into more freckles than before. You followed them down his jaw, freshly shaved, before they disappeared down his neck and into the collar of his shirt. Finally, you sat up straighter, bracing an arm against the bar and taking breath. There was no avoiding this conversation.

“Duck, I-“

“Look, I’m real sorry-“

“Why the hell are you apologizing?”

He fumbled for a reply, running a hand down his arm, and you watched the tension build in his shoulders.

“I, uh, I thought you were mad at me or somethin’, and then we never really talked about it, partially cause I was too chicken shit to say anything and then you, uh, you left, which I’m not blaming you for or anything, but I di-fuck, I didn’t wanna screw it up more.”

“Are you kidding me? I wasn’t mad at you, I j- I don’t know. I was just confused, Duck. I didn’t think you liked me back then, I spent most of high school convincing myself of that, and then suddenly my best friend is asking to kiss me by a campfire under the stars in the most perfect and clique way I’d ever imagined. Don’t you think that would confuse anyone?”

He nodded, gears turning behind dark curls for a few moments before he made eye contact again.

“So, you weren’t mad at me?”

You couldn’t help but laugh, loudly enough that you hid behind your hands until it died down. Duck hid behind his glass, swallowing hard while he waited. You couldn’t tell if he was blushing or if the alcohol was turning him red, but you decided to put him out of his misery either way. This was maybe the only chance you had to clear up the entire situation, and no matter how it ended, it would be one thing that had bothered you for years, solved.

“No, Duck, I wasn’t mad at you for anything other than the fact that you stopped.”

“Oh, well, uh…fuck, I just didn’t want you to be embarrassed by bein’ caught like that or anythin’, I, uh, didn’t reall- oh hell, look, I didn’t want to stop either, like at all, I’d been wanting to do that for a long time.”

The heat rose to your face faster than you could even register what he’d said, now it was your turn blink and let the wheels turn. You bounced back fast enough, taking a chance and leaning into him as your voice fell quiet.

“Look, I’m just going to be completely honest because I’ve thought about this a lot since that night, and no matter what happened or if anything’s changed, nothing has sucked more than feeling like this fucked up our friendship. I’ve missed the hell out of you, and you’re too good a guy to keep feeling like you screwed up more than you did.”

He smiled, fidgeting with the sleeve of his flannel and drawing attention to the paint stain on the cuff. Confidence rose in you, leaning down until he made eye contact with you and not breaking it until you’d told him the truth and placing a hand on his arm to keep your balance.

“Duck, I’ve had the biggest crush in history on you since I was sixteen, and it’s never died. I had never kissed anyone like that before then, and honestly nothing has really topped it since. I meant it every time I told you I was proud of you; I have always thought you were a good fucking person and from what it sounds like you’ve continued to do that up until now. I mean it, and goddammit you’re hot, Duck Newton, and I won’t let you argue with me about it.”

“I, uh, I’m not great at talking, not like you, but I’ve had, uh, feelings for you for about the same amount of time. I don’t know when exactly it changed from you being like, uh, family? -to me looking at you, well, differently, but I had a couple years of dealin’ with it under my belt. I didn’t really notice that you had any kind of feelin’ for me until the year you graduated, but I had just gotten out of that thing with that rich chick, and it just didn’t seem right to make a move on it then. But, uh-“

He sighed, breaking eye contact to look down in the direction of your hand against his arm, but you didn’t move. Instead, you watched his teeth catch against his lip, a sigh finally relaxing his shoulders as he laid heavy hand over yours and finished his thought.

“-I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it more than once since you, uh, left. I wanted to talk to you about it, I really did, I ju-fuck, I just never found a time that felt right, I guess, and I don’t really want that kind of thing to keep happenin’.”

The energy shifted between you when he looked at you again, it was hard to read but thick in a way that sunk into your stomach. Duck always seemed completely earnest when he looked at someone, and now it directed at you in a way that was more intimate than you’d ever seen it. He didn’t move, seeming to wait for you to decide what happened next. You weren’t sure what you should do. Part of you wanted to throw caution to the wind and just kiss him, it seemed like an obvious progression of the situation. Nerves got the best of you, causing your palms to sweat a bit as your hand slipped from under his and you returned to your drink, clearing the dryness in your mouth and giving you an excuse for silence. After a moment to breath, and fueled by slightly more liquor, you gently shoved his shoulder with a smile.

“So, Duck Newton, any girlfriend wondering where you are tonight?”

“No mam, only woman in my life is probably asleep on top of the refrigerator at my house or digging in the treat cabinet for catnip.”

“You have a cat?”

“Yup, just got her a couple of months ago, she, uh, well she got hit by a car out on one of the roads up to the station, and she’s fine, just spooked her really and messed up her hip, but I’ve not really been able to give her up since.”

“Duck, if you were anymore of an angel, heaven would have to come get you.”

He laughed, shortly, before finishing his drink and waving away the bartender when offered a refill before stumbling through what he said next.

“Do you, uh, wanna meet her?”

“Like, at your place?”

“Only if you’re alright with that, uh, it’s probably gonna start gettin’ a little rowdy in here the later it gets, and I’ve got some booze at my house if you wanna, uh, hang out more.”

You stood up, downing the rest of your drink with a smile before nodding towards the door.

“There’s no way in hell I’m gonna miss the chance to meet Duck Newton’s cat, c’mon.”


	5. last night we finally got it right

Duck didn’t feel right letting you drive, no matter how much you promised him that two ciders wasn’t enough to impair your judgement for driving, so instead you walked the couple of blocks to Duck’s apartment. It was a little colder than it had been when you’d arrived, but you declined Duck’s coat in favor of your own. You had no idea what to expect from his apartment, and you tried not to think too much about it until you’d gotten there to avoid letting your mind wander into the more risqué territory of your mind. It became harder after your hands brushed more than once on the way there, but neither of you hid your hands in pockets so it wouldn’t happen again. The tone between the two of you stayed a new kind of tense, even as you giggled as Duck fumbled with his keys and waved you into his apartment. There was a ball of fur instantly winding around your legs, mewing loudly before clawing her way up Duck’s pant leg until he scratched behind her ear. You were glad for the distraction, taking the moment of him crouching in the floor to breathe through the nerves of being in the apartment of probably the most attractive man you’d ever known, and one that you’d had over a decade of feelings for. His place was quaint, cleaner than you’d expected.

“Is it cool if I, uh, ya know-“

You’d been staring into the space of his living room, not noticing when he stood up and shrugged off his own jacket before reaching for yours. His hands hovered near your shoulders, only moving closer when you gave a quick nod and lets him slide the dark fabric off you. For a moment, his breath fanned across the back of your neck and his fingers brushed your arms through the thin fabric of your t-shirt, and both small movements made the blood rush to your lower stomach and the top of your skin. It almost made you dizzy, so you took deep breaths to clear your head and inhaled the scent of pine. Duck moved away long enough for you to shake most of it off, hesitantly moving further into his apartment, and smiling when his cat continued to follow you.

“You’re such a bachelor…”

“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”

His voice was closer than you thought, laughing through his words. There was barely anything on the walls, a couple of family pictures, a map of Kepler, but otherwise it was mostly bare. You smiled when you spied the national geographics and other environmental books scattered on the coffee table.

“It’s very you, Duck, that’s what it means.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

As soon as Duck came closer, the cat started winding around his legs again, meowing loudly. You turned to watch as he sighed, leaning down to pet her before shuffling backwards towards the kitchen.

“I’m gonna feed her before she start’s climbing all over me, do you, uh, want a drink?”

You nodded, watching Duck head into the kitchen with the cat hot on his heels. You took a walk towards the bookcase that held countless travel guides, old yearbooks, the occasional novel, old video games, all scattered among trinkets and picture frames. A collection of polaroid’s pinned to a board on his wall caught your attention. Photos, clearly taken by Juno, of Duck in what you assumed was at the ranger station alongside over people in uniform showed you a little over what you’d missed in the last few years. He was younger, and despite how dorky the uniform was, something about it then and now made your stomach flip. A rustle and small crash drew your attention back to the kitchen, smiling at the small curse Duck let out before calling out to him.

“What’s her name?”

“Huh?”

“Your cat, what’s her name?”

“Uh, it’s Winnie, s’kinda just the first thing I thought of.”

“That’s cute.” 

He didn’t answer, and your eyes turned back to the pictures. You settled on a photo you’d almost forgotten about, a snapshot of the group sprawled across the bleachers to skip class near the end of your final year. Everyone was definitely a little high, you would have had to be to have placed yourself nearly across Duck’s lap and wind your arms around his neck. Wondering for a moment how many times you two had gotten into each other’s personal space due to inhibited decision-making skills or just dumb teenage luck, your attention was drawn back to the photo once you caught Duck’s expression. One arm hooked around your waist to keep your balanced, the camera seemed dead to him as he gazed, unfocused and pleasant, in your direction while you covered the camera’s view to your face with peace signs and hung off him. He’d been hard to read to you all through high school, but now that you knew how he’d felt and grown up a little, it was obvious that there was something going on underneath those bleary blue eyes and wild dark hair.

You barely registered the sound of a door closing, but the clink of a glass being set down on the bookshelf behind you. Turning around towards the sound, your breath caught in your throat.

Duck was standing barely inches behind you, arm still braced against the shelf even as he let go of the glass and his chest nearly pressed against your shoulder. The tension thickened, the same way it had in the bar less than and hour ago but with an intensity that only could be reached in privacy. You could count every freckle on his skin, see the lines indented in his cheeks from years of kindness with how close you were to him, and once again that scent of pine overwhelmed you. He didn’t make eye contact, eyes darting between the photos behind you and the floor. You weren’t sure he was going to duck out of this or not, not until you watched his tongue dart out to wet his lips before moving an inch closer and take a shaking breath. Duck leaned in slowly, and with purpose, hesitating just as his nose brushed against yours and raising a brow in silent question. If you moved at all his lips would have met yours, and they brushed for a moment as you smiled and spoke.

“So brave, Duck Newton…”

The confidence of your teasing faltered when he gave a short laugh, watching his eyes flick back up from your lips to meet your gaze.

“Can I, uh-“

God, he was too good.

“Yes, please.”

His lips were against yours before you’d even finished the word, but you didn’t miss the small hitch in his breath before he was kissing you. Your hands went to his chest, pressing into the cotton of his shirt when his hands found your waist and sliding up to cup his jaw when he pressed further into the kiss.

Kissing Duck was both familiar but entirely new, with lips you’ve felt before but softer, the slight scrape of the stubble on his jaw in your palm keeping you from floating away entirely. After a few moments, his teeth found your lip, barely pulling at the skin and drawing a soft noise from the back of your throat. Duck hesitated for a moment, breaking the kiss as his forehead bumped against yours before his grip on your waist tightened. He had backed you up against the blank expanse of wall beside his bedroom door in an instant, kissing you with new intensity that made your heart begin to hammer in your chest. You pressed back against him, arching away from the wood paneling until his chest was flush against yours. Fingers slipped under the collar of his flannel and up into his hair, feeling the muscle in his shoulders shift as his arms wrapped around you. It was hard to catch your breath, even when the kiss was broken and dragged along your jaw before pressing into the thin skin along your pulse. You shuddered when his teeth gently pressed into your neck, gently pulling at the skin before sealing the spot with his lips. Tugging at his shirt brought him closer, and your knees began to buckle when you realized you could feel the weight of him hardening against your hip.

If this was going to happen, you weren’t going to hold back and let it slip away this time.

It only took sliding his flannel off one shoulder for him to let go momentarily to pull it off, hands finding your hips as you pulled him back. Hooking your fingers around his belt, and thanking whatever luck offered you the slack, to drag him closer pulled a near groan out of him, a sound that vibrated through your chest and sunk low into your stomach as his fingers dug into your sides. You could feel the growing swell against your pelvis as he pressed against you, heat pooling under your skin at the contact and driving your confidence forward. His own hands slid under the back of your shirt and traced the curves of your waist, blunt nails pressing into the skin as you wound an arm around his neck and tentatively brushed your tongue against his bottom lip. He responded instantly, opening his mouth to you as the kiss became more heated. When his fingers met the clasp of your bra on their way up your spine and your hand had found it’s way into his back pocket, you broke the kiss. Duck’s breathing matched yours, ragged, as he looked to you, patiently waiting as his fingers rubbed circles into your skin.

“Can we, uh, move to your bed?”

“Fuck yes, uh fu-, I mean, uh, yeah, yeah, if that’s okay with you.”

“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to.”

Your hand found the doorknob beside you as you spoke, watching Duck follow the movement with his forehead pressed to yours. The door swung open slowly, your hands pressing into his chest as you pushed yourself away from the wall and further into him. He stepped back from you, his fingers tangling in the cotton of your shirt before letting go reluctantly. Your hand dragged along his hip as he did, your fingers brushing against the fly of his jeans. You smiled as he breathed out heavily.

Backing towards the door, you tried your best to keep your eyes on his. Duck’s pupils were blown wide in the light from the single lamp in the room, and they didn’t leave yours until you leaned one hip against the doorway and reached out to him, his gaze shifting down to where your jeans met the wooden frame and following the curves of you to your waiting hand. The dimples in his cheeks pushed in as he smiled, linking his fingers with yours and letting you pull him into his bedroom. As soon as he’d swung the door shut behind him, he pulled you to him, kissing you again with fervor and slipping his hands under the hem of your shirt. He pressed against you greedily, nearly lifting you from the floor and walking you back until you felt the backs of your calves hit the bed. Hands slid higher up your back, pushing your shirt up over your stomach until it bunched beneath your chest. The kiss broke only for a second, Duck helping you pull the thin cotton over your head and letting it fall to the floor before pressing his lips to your pulse once again. 

He groaned against your throat as your fingers tangled into his hair and pulled as he worked his way down. Kicking a leg up to one side, you fumbled for the laces of your boots to get them off so you could pull him onto the mattress. It wasn’t an easy task as Duck’s teeth dragged along your collarbone, and you could feel him smile against your chest before he pulled back and kissed you softly as he caught your wrist.

“Nah, let me get it.”

“Sorry to kill the mood with my Appalachian footwear choices.”

“S’part of the fun, what the hell are you talkin’ about?”

Teeth clacked together, smiles meshing before he kissed you and pressed back until you couldn’t lean any farther. You couldn’t help but laugh as you lost your balance and fell back onto his bed with a bounce, but your breath caught in your throat when he went to his knees in front of you. His hands slid across your thighs before pulling you to place a foot in his lap. You could only watch fondly as he quickly untied each shoe and slid them off in turn, his hair falling into his face as he leaned forward to press a kiss to the top of your knee before straightening up again. He took a second to untie his own boots before leaning into you and placing himself between your legs, sliding his hands underneath your behind and tugging you forward to the edge of the bed as you squealed a laugh. You had to slightly look down in this position, letting Duck press kisses across your chest as hands slid up your sides. His breath blew across your skin as he spoke.

“This okay?”

“Yeah, how many times are you going to ask that?”

He looked up to press his lips to yours, pulling back slightly to look up at you. Duck had more patience than most, you knew that, but you could tell it was holding by a thread.

“As many times as I think I need, so I make sure I’m not doing anythin’ you don’t want.”

Leaning down to kiss him deeply, your hands met his chest and slid up along his shoulders. You could feel him shudder slightly beneath your fingers, muscles tensing as you cupped his jaw and pulled slightly on his lip. When you looked at him again, he seemed slightly dazed, his cheeks stained pink, his breathing becoming more ragged as his gripped tightened around your waist. Your lips brushed against his as you spoke.

“I promise to tell you if I want to stop, okay? And I want you to do the same.”

Duck nodded, closing the space between you. Your arms wrapped around his neck, pressing your chest against his as his fingers slid up your spine. Pulling away until your nose bumped against his and smiling when he attempted to chase the kiss, you let your fingers twist into the curls at the base of his neck. You didn’t open your eyes to look at him as you spoke, hushed and pleading.

“Please, don’t stop…”

It was like something snapped. Duck caught you in another kiss, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you closer until your hips were flushed against his stomach, barely balancing on the edge of the bed with Duck keeping you steady. Fingers found the clasp of your bra and fumbled for a moment before getting it undone, backing you away from him only long enough to let you slide the straps down your shoulders and toss it into the floor. Gasping when your chest ground against the weave of his shirt, you clung to him as he took the advantage to deepen the kiss further and lift you higher up on the bed, climbing to his feet quickly. His knee slid in between yours, pressing firmly between your legs as he laid above you. The pressure burned alongside the pooling heat in your gut, pulling a whine from your throat that muffled against his lips. Vaguely you could hear the sound of his boots hitting the floor, but it didn’t distract you for long. Duck broke the kiss, lips trailing down your neck again with new passion, teeth sinking into your skin experimentally and pressing deeper when you arched against him.

There was no way you weren’t going to have marks in the morning, and the thought only pushed your arousal farther, pressing harder up into him as he bit down at the junction of your shoulder and sucked until you were clawing at his shoulders. You barely registered the bed sink lower as Duck shifted his weight onto one arm, all your nerves focused in on warm fingers sliding slowly along the bare skin of your stomach like he was committing it to memory. Your breath was knocked out of you when his palm curved over your chest, Duck shifting to press kisses to your collarbone before your fingers found the curve of his jaw and dragged him up to your lips again. He drank in every sound as his fingers found your peaks and rolled across them, pulling gently and pressing into the softer parts of you. On a particularly long tug on his bottom lip, Ducks fingers moved from running your chest to grip your hip, tugging it sharply into his and pressing his thigh harder between yours. He swallowed your groan but mirrored it when you shifted a thigh between his, tangling your legs together as a rhythm began to form.

Duck’s fingers dug harder into your skin the longer you ground into him, no longer controlling your pace but still helping to guide your hips into his. The hushed curse that filled the space between your lips as Duck pulled away to press his forehead to yours sunk into your stomach and fueled the confidence to return your fingers to his hair and pull back until your lips found his neck. His movements stuttered as you bit down, feeling him swallow hard beneath your lips before letting out a string of soft curses. You tried to match the spots that ached on your own skin, tilting his chin to reach the soft skin under his ears and feeling your stomach flip when he groaned in response.

When you paused for breath, Duck pulled away with a smile that only grew when you sighed at the lost friction. He didn’t look away as he settled back and pushed circles into the skin of your hips, blue eyes so clear in the soft light that you would happily drown in them. A flare of anticipation sent heat to your toes when his fingers went to your waistband, quickly opening the button of your jeans when you nodded desperately and pulling them down your legs. Sitting up on your elbows, you watched his gaze drop to the newly bare skin as his hands slid up your skin. He pressed into your thighs, daringly close to where you wanted him but too far away. Duck only smiled a lopsided, breathless smile as you whined, hooking under your knees to push them further apart as he settled between them. Warm hands fell across your hips before sliding lower, and your breath hitched at the returned friction that burned into your skin as his fingers fell over the dampness between your legs and the cotton stuck against your skin. You fell back with a bounce, the movement catching his eye for a moment before he traced the band of your underwear with his thumbs and hooked them underneath it. The quick dart of his tongue across his lip and the pause in his movements made you smile. He was giving you a chance to stop him, but you could only watch fondly as he chewed his lip and removed your remaining item of clothing.

_“Fuck.”_

The quiet curse lit your skin on fire. Your arm shifted to cover your eyes, feeling more vulnerable than you had in a long time with Duck looking down at you. Nothing was hidden with your legs open around his hips, your bareness made more apparent to you as the cold air hit damp skin and you felt yourself twitch under his gaze, but you trusted him to do what he wanted with that moment. You heard Duck take a slow breath before you felt lips meet your hip and his arms hook behind your knees. Your arm lifted slightly to look at him, your work to keep your breathing calm failing when your eyes met his. He smiled against your thigh, an action you felt more than saw, biting down for a moment before quickly moving to press his lips just below your navel. He moved you gently, but you could feel the restraint in how his fingers dug into the back of your knee as he pressed upward and gripped your thigh to throw the other over his shoulder.

“Duck, pl-“

The word stalled in your throat when his tongue dragged along your center, pulling up with agonizing pressure before circling your clit. Your fingers twisted into his bedcovers as he covered sensitive skin with burning kisses that fueled the now-nearly unbearable heat that had grown deep in your core. It was hard to breath between the quick strokes of his tongue, only finding a moment when he pulled back to adjust and spoke roughly against the skin of your thigh.

“Fuck, you’re fuckin’ wet…”

The praise turned into a near growl as dove back between your legs, tongue pressing into your clit and rolling small circles around it as you began to writhe from the pressure. You didn’t try to hold back the noises that bubbled from your chest, or the urge to press upward against his mouth as he gripped you tighter and pressed back eagerly. The back of your hand caught between your teeth as a finger slid into you slowly, Duck pausing to gauge your comfort before starting a steady rhythm to match the encouraging roll of your hips. Your slide your hands into his hair, trying not to pull too hard despite the knot that was beginning to twist in your stomach. The pace quickened, another finger pressing into you as Duck breathed a laugh against your skin. He cut off your plea to continue, returning the firm circles around your clit that made your legs begin to tremble and your back arch. Surely you were tugging harder at his hair now, but you were too caught up in the feeling of him to stop and he made no indication that it wasn’t welcomed. You could hear yourself pleading, unable to stop as volume rose, holding on to Duck and the blankets beneath you like you were going to fall away without them.

“Oh, fuck, I’m gonna-“

Duck didn’t stop even as you writhed, wrapping an arm around you and dragging his fingers across your hip. Your free hand found his, intertwining your fingers with his across your stomach as the knot of nerves built up to a near unbearable point. When the fingers inside you curled, that knot snapped, and the frayed edges caught fire and spread it to the ends over every nerve. Your vision blurred around the edges, fighting hard to burn the image of the man between your legs into your memory forever but failing as pleasure took over. Duck gripped your hand tighter, continuing his motions through your orgasm with a groan that you barely heard over the blood rushing in your ears. You could feel yourself crying out, the sound scratching at your throat and feeling like a broken version of Duck’s name that collapsed into a flurry of breathless moans and whines as you came down from your orgasm. The kisses trailing across your thighs, still trembling as Duck’s fingers slid out of you, helped you refocus. You wondered for a moment how he’d learn to do that, hoping you’d remember to ask later, if not to please your curiosity than to praise him into a stuttering mess. He smiled as you untangled your fingers from his hair and gently combed over where you’d been pulling at it, before moving back to kiss your palm and climb to his feet.

He wasn’t getting away that easily, not after that.

As quickly as you could on still-shaking legs, you grabbed Duck by his shirt and pulled him against you, tucking your knees under yourself to match his height and press your lips against his before he could get a word in. You could taste yourself on him in the kiss, your teeth tugging at his lip and pleading him to deepen the kiss. He responded by wrapping his arms around you, tracing along your shoulder blades and tangling into your hair. Duck was still dressed, having kept you too occupied up until now for you to get your hands on him the way you wanted to, but that wasn’t going to last much longer if you had anything to say about it.

You broke the kiss to press your lips to his jaw, sliding your hands down his stomach until you found the hem of his shirt. Duck’s breath hitched when your fingers met the skin of his stomach, feeling the resistance behind the softness there and moving upward till his shirt had gathered on top of your wrists. With a quick kiss to his pulse, you pulled away, looking up at him as you tugged his shirt higher and smiling when he helped you get it off.

Okay, so Duck Newton was _really, really_ hot.

His forehead pressed to yours as you he leaned into you, your fingers tracing the lines of his neck to the curve of his shoulders, feeling the muscles tense beneath his skin while his hands stroked along your arms. Following the dark trail of hair down from his chest down to his stomach, you looked up to him as your fingers tucked under his belt to pull him closer once again. Duck’s jaw tensed, hands coming to grip your hips as he let out a slow exhale of breath. His fingers pressed harder into your skin as you undid his belt, stilling your breath for a moment and causing your stomach to flip at the strength behind it. Your cheek fell against his shoulder as you undid the button of his jeans and pushed them down enough to slip your fingers under his boxers and do the same. He was holding his breath, you could feel it, so you tilted your head up to kiss under his jaw before returning to his shoulder and biting down. You traced the dip in his hip, following the line down until your fingers found coarse curls and wrapped around his length.

Duck hissed a curse, pressing a kiss to your temple and sliding a hand into your hair. Running your thumb over the tip of him sent a shudder that flexed the muscles of his stomach, fingers pressing into your scalp and turning you up into another kiss that seared against your lips. You did it again, collecting the slickness that gathered the longer you touched him and earning the tug of teeth on your bottom lip in return. It only drove you to wrap your fingers around him and stroke him steadily, twisting your wrist when you reached the tip before sliding down again. His knees bumped against the bed, collapsing forward until your bare skin pressed together. You could feel him getting tenser, forcing his breathing to remain even despite the desperation in the fingers that slid down the back of your neck and dug into the swell of your behind. He broke the kiss, forehead pressing into his temple as you turned to watch his length drag against your fingers and press heavily into your palm. It took a moment to realize he was talking, soft and stumble against your cheek, your attention caught up in taking apart the man trembling under your actions.

“Ba- Hey, uh, honey, if you’re lookin’ t- fuck, to have this end pretty soon you’re, uh, on the right track, but I- fuck, I don’t know how much longer I can take of you doin’ that.”

You smiled, slowing your pace and settling on holding his weight as you turned to kiss him softly. With a last slide of your thumb around the tip, you settled back onto your heels. Duck watched you shift back further onto the bed, his teeth chewing at his lower lip and biting down when you let him slip from your fingers. It didn’t take long for him to follow you, kicking off the last of his clothes so quickly it made you laugh and moving to hover above you. Arms wound around his neck, dragging him down into another greedy kiss as you arched up into him. His hips dropped into yours, the weight of his length pressing between your legs and dragging against your clit as you ground up into him. Duck pulled back slightly, his breath blowing across your cheeks as he pressed his forehead to yours and met your eye.

“Are you, uh…?”

“Protected? Yeah, you don’t have to worry about it.”

“You sure? It’s uh, safer wit-, well I don’t know if I have the, uh, equipment, fuck…”

“Thank you, Ranger Newton, but I promise you that it’s okay.”

He snorted, closing his eyes with his forehead pressed to yours for a moment before diving back into your kiss like it had never stopped. Your hips began to grind together again, each roll of him against you drawing a whine from your throat. You were breathless with the heat pooling between you when he pulled away again, pressing kisses to your lips as you chased after with a grin before leaning back on his heels. He groaned a quiet curse, blue eyes flicking over your flushed skin, your thighs splayed across his, and following the path of his fingertips down your stomach. They pressed into you easily, his palm cupping against you as he worked one, then two, fingers into you, curling them again in that way that made your legs shake. He formed a steady rhythm, shifting his position to press his thumb against your clit but offering little pressure. You chased the feeling, rolling your hips up into him and arching when it pressed his fingers deeper and ground his thumb against the nearly too sensitive bundle of nerves.

“Oh, _fuck.”_

A third finger stilled you, your head falling back and twisting as they worked you towards another orgasm. Nothing you had ever done before felt the way you did now, your breathing ragged and hands knotted in the blankets by your hips. You were completely lost to the burning tension spreading across your skin, only realizing Duck had moved to hover above you again when you felt lips against your jaw. He kissed along your cheek as you turned into him, sliding a hand up his back as you caught his lips with yours and slipping the other between you. You felt how wet you’d become as his fingers slid out of you to grip at your thigh, whimpering at the loss of friction but distracted but how hard he was between you as you held the weight in your palm and guided him into you.

Your fingers dug into his shoulders as he bottomed out, Duck’s head dropping to the crook of your shoulder as he waited for you to adjust. His breath blew across your neck between heated kisses, becoming heavier between each press of lips and hitching when you hooked a leg around his waist and rolled your hips up into him. A rhythm formed, slow and steady as he filled you, pulling back fully before driving into you again. Your forehead pressed against his shoulder as you trembled at the feeling of being full and gasped a moan with each drag of his length out of you. Gripping the arms that bracketed around you, you chased that feeling the best you could, meeting his thrusts and pulling him deeper into you. Kisses were peppered along your shoulder, up your neck and jaw until they were crashing against your lips and muffling the breathy sounds Duck was pulling out of you. You hooked both legs around him, pulling him harder into you as your back arched at the change in angle and shuddering when he gripped your thighs enough to bruise and groaned against your lips.

“You feel so fuckin’ good.”

The headboard creaked when Duck gripped it, and your hands gripped into his shoulders when he lifted himself to hover over you and picked up speed with the leverage. The soreness of your thighs was an echo of pain in the sea of pleasure, enough to keep you focused on the man above you. His hair had started to stick to the sheen on his skin as it curtained around you, and your fingers were raking through it again as he smiled through a stuttered rendition of your name. Neither of you were going to last much longer like this, not with him going harder, faster with every sound you made, and the thought of this moment ending sent and ache through your chest. You forced it from your mind as you pushed into Duck’s shoulder, feeling your mixed arousal drip down your thighs as he fell beside you with a curse.

The four-letter word had barely left him before you were climbing on top of him, taking a moment to steady yourself as you straddled his hips. Glancing up, your stomach tightened when you met Duck’s gaze, heavy as it flicked over you and falling shut as it focused on where you two became connected again as you lowered down onto him. You took advantage of the way his head fell back with a groan, slowly rocking your hips into his and pressing your lips against his jaw. His hands found your hips again, sliding from them down your thighs and up again as you teased. Bracing your hands on his chest, your hips rocked at a slow pace, watching Duck’s brow furrow and his jaw clench under you. He was absolutely everything in that moment, centered at the bottom of your tunnel vision as your nerves began to burn once again. Your fingers traced a familiar scar on his side before running through the curls on his chest, digging in your nails when he began to meet your movements and his fingers gripped the soft flesh of your behind. A muttering of your name drew your attention, pulling your eyes up to his and sucking you in with one adoring look.

Keeping up the slow, teasing pace became impossible with the way he was looking at you, searching for eye contact and watching you gasp for breath with every pull of his hands on your hips. Once again pleasure started to claw at you, working the muscles of your thighs and core faster as another knot began to form in you. You leaned back, nails digging into Duck’s thigh when the angle pushed him against the spot that made your legs begin to shake. Your legs were giving out fast, your desperate motions coming to a head when his fingers slid across your stomach, pressing between your legs and circling around your clit. You were a constant stream of gasps, whimpering at the stimulation and groaning through his name as you began to lose composure. There were no arguments when he flipped you over again in a blur of motion, dragging your hips up against his as your shoulders pressed back into mattress and your thighs fell open. He picked up your desperate pace, the angle driving him hard into that place until you were clawing at the blanket beneath you. Your ankles ached as you pressed down into the mattress, not daring to let him change a thing unless it ruined the ecstasy you were currently rushing towards.

Duck wasn’t letting up either, jaw tight as he pounded into you and gripping into your hips like you would disappear. You could hear him groan over your own pleading moans, noticing the change in heavy breathing when you fell into a jumbled mix of his name, begging for more and four-letter words. His grasp only tightened when your hand finally flew between you, sliding through the mess you’d become and pressing into your clit as it all became too much. You’d barely completed one circle around the bundle of nerves before another orgasm crashed over you, ripping a cry from your throat, and sending tremors through your limbs. Duck never stopped, working you through your orgasm as your vision blurred and your nerves fizzled, only slowing when slick fingers gripped at his and your eyes blinked open at the soft praise from above you.

“Beautiful...”

You reached out to him, wrapping and arm around his neck and pulling him into you. His lips found yours, kissing you gently and groaning against them as your shaking legs wound around his waist again and you rolled your hips up into him. The two of you tangled together, your fingers working their way between his and into his hair as he pressed down into the mattress and chased his own orgasms. Sensitive from the moments before, you whined against his jaw as he fell into a sloppy, bruising rhythm. His teeth pressed into the skin of your shoulder, kissing across the sore skin as you whispered praise into his ear and coaxed his lips back to yours. He stilled with a groan, his fingers tucking under your jaw as his forehead pressed to yours and holding you in deep kiss that lasted long after he’d collapsed into you. You remained tangled as he rolled off you, wrapping your legs into his and pressing against him while you ignored the mess between your legs as he slid out of you. Your lungs were screaming by the time you broke to breath, running the tip of your nose along his and pushing his hair out of his face with a laugh as he sighed against you.

“Holy shit…”

“You can say that again.”

“Holy shit.”

“How the hell you still have the mind for jokes after that is honestly, a little impressive.”

“Jokin’s second nature, and it’s easier than standin’ to clean up. I’ll probably hit the fuckin’ floor.”

You smiled against his shoulder, falling into comfortable silence as your breathing slowed. Duck moved first, after what felt like forever, turning to press a kiss to your forehead and gently moving you from laying on him. He stood slowly, stretching upwards and giving you time to admire his backside and shoulders before turning to you with that lopsided, dorky smile.

“I’ll, uh, go get some clean sheets if you wanna, uh, use my shower or somethin’.”

“Already trying to get rid of me?”

“After that? Hell no, far as I’m concerned, you’re welcome to stay the night, the mornin’, however long you want to stay. I’m just not to, uh, keen on sleeping on sheets that are, well, fuckin’ soaked.”

The flush that rose to your cheeks was probably hidden by the post orgasm, well, orgasms, glow, but you laughed and rolled yourself to a standing position before following his sweeping gesture towards the bathroom with shaking steps. You took his offer, showering quickly and fighting to keep your hair out of the water while listening to him hum softly in the other room. When you returned, he was shuffling against the dark carpet, wearing his boxers and an old band t-shirt that you recognized instantly. It made your heart flutter, sentimental despite the fact that you’d just had the best sex of your life, with your best friend that you haven’t seen in nearly a decade. Duck turned when you opened the door, hesitating before holding out a shirt towards you and scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

You had the feeling that Duck didn’t do this kind of thing very often.

“It, uh, get’s kind of cold at night so I thought you’d wanna, ya know, have somthin’.”

His fingers lingered on yours for a moment as you took it from him, taking the towel you’d wrapped around yourself and tossing it towards the laundry basket in the corner. The shirt hung down to the tops of your thighs, the flannel wicking away the leftover moisture of your skin and swaddling you in the scent of whatever cologne Duck had last worn in it mixed with the unmistakable smell of pine. He’d sat down on the bed by the time you’d finished lazily half-buttoning it up, watching you with one of the unreadable expressions that plagued your mind as you crawled onto his bed once again. He laid down with a small grunt, pulling the covers aide for you and winding an arm around your waist to pull him to you. Your lips found his, lazily pressing kisses against his before following the speckled constellations on his and drawing a chuckle from him. Your leg was pulled across his hip as you tucked yourself under his chin, wrapped in his arms as his nose buried itself into your hair.

Duck’s breathing evened out soon after, his grip going slightly slack as he fell asleep and began to snore lightly. You couldn’t help but smile, pressing a kiss to his chest before shifting slightly into a more comfortable position. Sleep quickly weighed down your eyelids, the heartbeat beneath your palms lulling you asleep. Duck shifted slightly, rolling onto his back and nearly dragging you with him as he did. Curling into his shoulder, you muttered aloud in hopes that his subconscious would hear it and convince him it was true.

“Wayne Newton, you really are the best thing about Kepler…”

* * *

The next morning you woke up to soft purring and a weight on your chest, blinking into the sunlight coming in from the overhead windows and focusing on the fuzzy shape in front of you. Winnie was curled up in front of your nose, squinting happily at you and purring up a storm. She mewed softly and relocated to Duck’s pillow when you sat up, groaning softly at the aches that stung deep in your bones as you pulled yourself in a sitting position. Stretching through the soreness brought back the memories of last night, sending butterflies loose in your stomach and stretching a smile across your face. One look to the cat next to you told you that Duck wasn’t in bed next to you, and you squinted at the alarm clock on his bedside in the hopes that it would give you an idea as to why. It was late in the morning, closing quickly in on afternoon territory with each second. A class of water set next to the blinking red numbers, another remnant of Duck’s hospitality, and you drank it gladly as you drew the energy to leave the warmth of the bed.

Reluctantly you unwound yourself from the covers, curling your toes into the carpet before standing. The apartment was quiet aside from the padding of tiny paws behind your own footsteps, following as you collected your clothes from on top of an old dresser and slid on your underwear for slightly more modesty. You settled in on the couch, picking a book on native West Virginia flowers to flick through while waiting for your lover to reappear. It was only a few minutes until Winnie took off towards the front door, the sound of keys outside reaching you before she’d begun to meow at the doorknob. Duck came through moments later, his hair pulled back sloppily and wearing the shirt he’d worn to bed. He shushed Winnie quickly, reaching down to pet her and shooing her away rom the open door.

“Hush cat, you’r gonna wake u- ah, shit.”

He deflated when he noticed you sitting on his couch, closing the door behind him and holding up your keys before placing them besides his on the table in front of you.

“I, uh, got your car. I didn’t want ya’ to have to walk back and get it by yourself.”

“Duck Newton, Gentleman of Kepler, strikes again I see.”

Duck smiled, rubbing at the back of his neck awkwardly before stepping closer to you. He leaned down slowly, waiting until you put down the book before pressing a kiss to your lips. The worries that had been flooding your mind faded away with that single action, scattering thoughts of this being no more than a one-night stand or a mistake to him to the far corners and filling the spaces left over with the warm fuzz of infatuation. You laughed together as Winnie hopped into your lap and bumped her head into his hand, Duck picking up the tiny interruption and placing her on the couch beside you before holding out a hand to help you to your feet.

“So, uh, do you wanna go get breakfast?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This is the end of this little ficlet about my favorite local beefcake. This ended up being waaaay longer than I intended it to be, so if you could please comment your thoughts, it really means a lot! Getting comments makes me so much more confident in my writing and makes it easier for me to write more! THANK YOU <3


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